Category: Food Design

Are you hosting (or bringing a themed dish to) a 4th of July Party this year? Every year, even though I’m Australian, I love how lots of red, white and blue color starts to pop up on Pinterest around the time of American Memorial Day, in preparation for the Independence Day holiday. I know lots of my American friends try to plan ahead for a tasty and unforgettable 4th of July menu, so that they can relax on the day and enjoy the fireworks with family and friends. This post is dedicated to my patriotic friends, who I know will browse through hundreds of recipes on Pinterest until they see the perfect dessert, cute themed cupcakes and red, white and blue sweets for their 4th of July party.

Looking for last minute Valentines Day recipes that are super cute, easy and simple to make, and fairly healthy to eat, too? These 3 easy last minute Valentines Day Recipes are guaranteed to be a hit, even when you have left it until the eve of February 14 to cook up and make some DIY Valentines ideas in your own kitchen.

The release also happened to coincide with the Australia Day long weekend here in Sydney, so it was great that I could decorate to the theme of the movie and throw a mini Australia-themed Alexander party at home!

I simply bought four of my favorite gluten free packet mix chocolate cakes and made four round cakes using an 8-9 inch tin, following the instructions on the back of the packet. Luckily, the frosting also comes in the packet, but you could always just use your favorite chocolate frosting recipe – or even a white butter cream frosting would work here.

Now I’m going to teach you how to make a pinata cake – are you ready to assemble it?

Today, I’m sharing 5 easy Halloween food ideas that I made especially for the HelloSociety Halloween Potluck Pinterest Party! I’m so excited to participate in this, especially since I had so much fun making dishes for the Easter and July 4th Potluck challenges earlier this year. It’s a really great way for me to get out of my cooking rut, and get my hands (and kitchen bench) dirty in a really creative way. Not to mention, I get to share lots of awesome yummy treats with whoever happens to be nearby!

1. Boo-nanas!

Inspired by seeing Sharpie drawn on just about everything these days, I made some screaming bananas. It’s such a simple and easy idea for when you can’t possibly face another handful of candy, piece of cake, or pumpkin-flavored whatever. And of course, bananas are a great gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, soy-free, everything-free snack. Except if you are allergic to bananas. Sorry.

2. Cute Halloween Ghost Eggs

So, this is not strictly something you can serve at your next Halloween party, but it is a cute little idea to surprise your loved ones when they go to make some eggs in the morning. I was inspired to use my Sharpie to create little haunted egg faces after seeing this idea on Pinterest. The only trouble is… Our eggs aren’t exactly white in Australia. So they don’t quite look like ghosts. But you get the general impression!

3. Mandarin Pumpkins

I was inspired to create these mandarin pumpkins after seeing this idea on Pinterest. Anybody would think that this post is sponsored by Sharpie, the way these ideas are stacking up (it’s not). However… I’m a big fan of simple, quick, healthy, and fun, and these little guys tick all four boxes! And not to mention, it’s naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. A good tip: Draw the outline of the pumpkin face shape you want with thin Sharpie, then fill it in with a thicker Sharpie. You’ll save so much time!

4. Mini Cupcake Spiders with Pretzel Legs

So I cheated a bit with this idea, as I used store-bought mini cupcakes. But, paired with Smarties for eyes and Pretzel legs, with a dash of chocolate icing to stick the eyes on – you wouldn’t know the difference! These little spiders are bright, colorful, and combine an unexpected savory touch to an otherwise sweet dish. The original recipe uses donuts instead, but you can see how much I was inspired to make something very similar and just as visually effective.

5. Tim Tam Tombstones

This one is an original! I don’t know whether folks over in the States can obtain Arnott’s TimTam biscuits over there, but they are a cult classic quintessential food here in Australia. So, my dad came home with a packet the other day and I was busy thinking up ideas for the Halloween Potluck Party. Anyway, as he was munching, I said “your TimTam kinda looks like a tombstone!” and he promptly bit the biscuit he had right in half, pulled out a fresh one, laid that flat on the bench, and stacked the bitten half-TimTam on top to make a proper tomb-like shape! Horrifically morbid, but also pretty funny at the same time. Thanks Dad!

Two days later… I prettied the idea up a little bit by using a knife to cut the TimTams, with some white-chocolate writing icing to create the RIP detail. I also used a smear of caramel icing and a couple of toothpicks to join the two biscuit pieces together. You can see something similar here.

(Oh, and by the way, did you know that TimTams only come with 11 biscuits in the packet now?! Talk about the opposite of a baker’s dozen. I felt slightly ripped off by that number, its very cheeky, since I’m sure their used to be 12 in a packet.)

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed these 5 Easy Halloween Food Ideas, as much as I enjoyed making them! Now, please excuse me while I go and eat one of those cupcakes… I mean… mandarins.

I love these three fantastic ideas to make with strawberries – this is food design at it’s very finest! Perhaps you too will be as inspired as I was when I first saw these ideas on the Blue Apron blog. The best thing is – that all three are really simple to do! Those who know me will appreciate that I am definitely no chef, but I’m sure I could pull these off with not too much trouble.

These strawberry roses are going to be the highlight of any dessert! Impress your dinner guests and provide a fresh burst of flavor at the same time. They look so good, I want to eat them right off my computer screen.

This is a perfect Christmas idea to bookmark for when you have some plain cupcake mix to use up and a punnet full of fresh strawberries. Cream and white chocolate make the perfect fur trim for these little Santa hats!

Nothing is cuter than hearts – and nothing is more delicious than Nutella-filled anything! This gorgeous idea can be used to create a very adult dish from a nostalgic favorite.

So – which one are you going to make first?

x Jess

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